"An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last."Sir Winston Churchill

10.03.2006

Books That Matter

Going around the blogosphere:

1. One book that changed your life?

Martin Gilbert's "Churchill: A Life" ignited within me a lifelong interest in the greatest man of the 20th century, as well as a love for history.

2. One book that you have read more than once?

"The Fifth Head of Cerberus" by Gene Wolfe, which, as with everything Wolfe writes, one simply cannot fully comprehend the first time through. As with most of his work, I'm on the fourth reading and am only beginning to plumb the depths.

3. One book you would want on a desert island?

The U.S. Army Survival Manual. Not very exciting, perhaps, but most useful.

4. One book that made you cry?

"A Tale of Two Cities" by Charles Dickens. The ending always gets me.

5. One book that made you laugh?

"The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" by Edward Gibbon. Not traditionally regarded as a comedic book, but Gibbon gets so positively bitchy in his commentary that I found myself laughing quite a bit.